Are chemicals like plastics, flame retardants, and pesticides safe? That all depends on who’s evaluating them.

France officials take a harder stance on chemical safety than we do here in the U.S. – the EU placed restrictions on neonicotinoids, the pesticides linked t declining bee populations, while U.S. regulators have been slow to limit its applications.

Now, France has released a list of more than one thousand pesticides and personal care products that it claims are all potentially dangerous human endocrine disruptors.

Compiled by the offices of France’s Ecology and Agriculture ministers, the release of the list comes just a few weeks after the European Commission’s vote on defining endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which will now allow France to pull offending products from the nation’s stores and force manufacturers to replace the chemicals.

Endocrine disruptors have been linked to metabolic disorders, reproductive and developmental issues, and even some forms of cancer.

This is the first page of the list. To see all the chemicals, go here and here.

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

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France, you did it. 

The French people elected a president who isn’t supported by the alt-right! But we know that a presidential election doesn’t make far-right sympathizers vanish. (Hello, America!)

So, let’s take France’s political and social temperature by examining its recent election, and other notable French news.

France’s new president

Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, is France’s new president. The election frayed a lot of nerves around the world. Many onlookers worried that Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate who is similar to Trump, would win the election in a “surprise” upset.

Politicians, voters, and reporters are overwhelmingly viewing Macron’s win as a positive sign. The victory has caused some people to cheer on the “beginning of the end” of France’s far-right, populist leanings. And although Macron’s win is a relief, we know that France’s racist problems will persist.

For example, some people, including Carole Lieberman M.D., psychiatrist, are already warning that Macron’s election could allow France to become terrorist-central.

“Macron won, but when more terrorists attack France, many French may regret not having voted for Marine Le Pen,” Lieberman says.

And let’s not forget when Obama won the American presidential election in 2008 and 2012. Plenty of Americans thought that maybe—just maybe—racism was “over” in America.

Well, it’s now 2017, Trump, Mr. “build a wall” is president, and police are still killing innocent black men in more unjustified ways than ever.

It’s safe to say that a single election can’t change a country’s racist roots. However, education can.

Healthy models

France recently made it law that French models must have a medical certificate that confirms “their general physical well-being” and that they are not severely underweight. All models who are older than 16 must have this certificate. The certificate, once issued, is valid for two years.

In addition to this new health decree, France also passed a law requiring any “commercial” image of a model that’s been digitally altered be labeled with the declaimer “retouched photograph.”

These laws are a great start to helping curb the rampant unhealthy eating habits that plague the modeling industry. But as we all know — people can find ways around laws.

After all, if countries truly want to curb developing eating disorders, other laws that center on a model’s mental health should become reality, as well.

No to “neutral sex”

France’s top court made a ruling that’s not surprising, but is still a disappointment.

Plaintiff Gaëtan Schmitt wanted to be legally recognized as having a “neutral” sex. Schmitt “was registered at birth as a man but has argued he perceives his sexual identity as being neither female nor male,” The New York Times reports.

The reasoning for the court’s decision seems… weak. The French court said that the new gender designation could have “‘deep repercussions’ on French law and would entail ‘numerous legislative changes.’”

Well, yeah. Change takes time. But when that change is valid, all that work is well worth it.

Over the past few years, more people have come out as intersex. The designation is somewhat shrouded in mystery, which leads to incorrect negative connotations about this all-too-common medical occurrence.

The Times reports that 1 in 4,000 babies are born every year in France with a medical condition of sex development disorder. And in the United States, almost 1 in 1,500/1 in 2,000 births are to children who have “atypical genitalia,” the Intersex Society of North America reports.

Luckily, though, there are a few countries that legally recognize a third sex: Australia, Nepal, India, and New Zealand are leading the way. But it’ll be a matter of time before a third sex definition becomes a worldwide norm. Just like eradicating racism and terrorism. All we can hope for is that time and persistence rewrites our future.

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ColumnSex education in many American schools in severely lacking.

Similar to most Americans, I grew up in a school district that did have sex education classes, but what we talked about in the class wasn’t all that informative. Most every topic had an abstinence-only message, and STIs were used as sex scare tactics.

America’s sex ed problem

“From 1998 to 2009, federal funding for sexuality education focused almost exclusively on ineffective and scientifically inaccurate abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) programs,” The Daily Dot reports.

“Since 2010, the largest source of federal funding has gone to Office of Adolescent Health’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, which focuses on EBIs (evidence-based interventions) that address things like preventing teen pregnancies and STIs.”

This means teens are not taught about self-love, consent and having a happy and healthy sex life, or LGBTQ, economic and race issues, etc. This lack of information leaves America’s youth essentially clueless about sex.

Well, other countries are, luckily, not following in America’s footsteps. In fact, France is introducing a new “model” that’s meant to help students become more informed about something most think is a mystery: the female body.

The model

French school children aged primary to secondary level will now interact with a 3-D printed clitoris in sex-ed class. The model will be used to teach the kids about this typically misunderstood sexual part. The model was made by sociomedical researcher Odile Fillod.

“From Fillod’s sculpture, pupils will learn that the clitoris is made up of the same tissue as the penis,” The Guardian reports.

“That it is divided into crura or legs, bulbs, foreskin and a head. That the only difference between a clitoris and a penis is that most of the female erectile tissue is internal – and that it’s often longer, at around 8 inches.”

“It’s important that women have a mental image of what is actually happening in their body when they’re stimulated,” Fillod adds.

“In understanding the key role of the clitoris, a woman can stop feeling shame, or [that she’s] abnormal if penile-vaginal intercourse doesn’t do the trick for her – given the anatomical data, that is the case for most women.”

A-MEN.

The importance

This type of tool is incredibly important. While I knew what a clitoris was when I was a teen, I sure didn’t understand how it worked or how to ask a partner to interact with it. Seeing something like this would have been incredibly helpful. And while this model is mostly helpful to women, young men could stand to learn about this important body part, too. After all, sex should be fun for both people –and god knows women know how the penis works because for some reason, that information isn’t taboo.

In the future, it would also be quite useful if more models like these were used to help illustrate the various parts of other female anatomy: the vulva, different styles of pubic hair, etc. Normalizing these body parts and their quirks could help women feel less shame about their bodies. Because as we all know, the typical female body doesn’t look like a porn star’s.

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Image of girls learning via Shutterstock

The post American Sex Education Needs to Catch Up to France: #NowWhat appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnWell, 2015 is almost over. And while it was filled with a lot of happiness, we’ve got to say that this past year was overall a bit icky. You know us, though. We like to turn lemons into lemonade (or at the very least “expose” the lemons), and that’s just what we’re going to do this week. So, let us bid 2015 ado with a post that asks us all to remember that we are so much more than how we look.

Let’s start off by discussing that whole Miss Universe debacle…

We’re not here to bash Steve Harvey (everyone makes mistakes), but we do have say, well, scream: what the hell?!

Sure, sure. We get that there technically has to be a winner of a “beauty” pageant and that means a lot of someones have to lose for that to happen. But when you actually see someone lose, have the crown removed from her head, and told, basically, “yeah, you’re not good enough – move along” makes this pageant (and now all pageants, really), seem a heck of a lot worse.

What type of message does that send? We’ll cut to the chase: it sends a bad one. When Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, heard that Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, actually won, she reacted the way anyone would – she was shocked. Both beauty queens handled the situation incredibly well – we’re not contesting that. But we think that the entire Miss Universe organization could have made the situation better if the powers that be just would have said, “screw it – you’re all great,” thrown away the crown, and awarded all the women with scholarships.

Yeah, that’s never going to happen. But, in a perfect world, women from all over the world would be recognized for their caring actions, smart work, and killer skills rather than how great they look in a swimsuit. So, come on, Miss Universe — let’s work on making that 2016 wish come true!

Onto our second topic of the week: France’s law concerning underweight models and photo retouching.

On December 17, 2015, “France’s National Assembly finally passed a law to ban extremely thin models, a first step toward healthier-looking catwalks that’s been in the works since spring,” Refinery29 reports. “The law, which was first proposed in March and approved by the French parliament in April, requires that before booking gigs in France, models must supply a medical certificate proving her overall health and appropriate Body Mass Index (BMI).”

If a fashion house or modeling agency decides to ignore the law, the punishment isn’t light: someone will have to pay 75,000 euros (roughly $81,300) and serve six months in prison.

In addition to keeping an eye out for models’ health, the law also addresses excessive photoshopping. “Any commercial photos (a.k.a. advertisements) of models that have been digitally altered, whether the airbrushing is done to make certain body parts thinner or larger, must now include text that reads retouched photograph,” Refinery29 reports. “The punishment for rogue photoshopping is a pretty steep fine starting at 37,500 euros (roughly $40,675) and climbing as high as 30 percent of whatever was spent to produce the incriminating ad.”

This is all pretty awesome because it shows that at least someone (albeit a governing body) is more concerned with a person’s health than his/her overall appearance. For the life of me, I can’t understand why super-thin models are still in high demand. Everyone knows that most people can’t maintain that low of a weight in a healthy manner. And equally, it’s common knowledge that when people are bombarded with crazy thin, altered images, it can cause a person (especially a child or teen person) to feel incredibly bad about his or her self.

So, let’s hope that come 2016, the French modeling trend will take the world by storm, too. And perhaps even those ridiculous beauty pageants will take a cue from the ruling as well.

We can dream, can’t we?

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Image of woman with a crown from Shutterstock

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We start this piece by stating that we know that not every person who is  thin has anorexia. But we do know that in general, the modeling industry is incredibly hard on women of all body types, and we applaud France for monitoring its models’ health.

France is banning “ultra-thin” models. This ban includes models who are underweight (this is determined by a model’s Body Mass Index or BMI.)

We’ve got to admit it’s awesome that a country is taking such a firm stance on models’ health. Anorexia is incredibly detrimental to a person’s body and often times it’s deadly. And, duh: Most people who buy clothes are not super-fit, or incredibly thin. People come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s about time that a country does all it can do to promote the fact that not everyone is incredibly thin.

Earlier this week we also caught wind that Lane Bryant launched a campaign called #ImNoAngel. The campaign features models who are considered plus sized posing “naturally” in lingerie. (Basically, they look like most women who wear underwear, stand and aren’t bent over a table waiting to be rammed by some invisible penis.) The goal of the company’s campaign is to redefine sexy in the modeling industry.

Linda Heasley, Lane Bryant’s CEO, said she hopes #ImNoAngel shows that all women are beautiful. And while the campaign’s tagline is a semi-slam against Victoria’s Secret’s Angels, Heasley clarifies that it’s not meant to be insulting:

“We really admire Victoria’s Secret and what they’ve done; they’re an amazing brand. But arguably, their notion of what’s beautiful and sexy is a little narrow, and we want to say that beautiful and sexy comes in all shapes and sizes, as these models prove. It’s all about these amazing women, and making a statement.” – Refinery29

What do you think about the #ImNoAngel campaign? Do you think the U.S. should have a ban that’s similar to France’s “ultra-thin” model ban?

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The post France and Lane Bryant are Shaking Up the Modeling Industry appeared first on EcoSalon.

Beijing artist sells a glass jar of fresh French air at auction for $860. The move signifies the problems with Beijing air quality.

Can we put a price tag on something as invaluable as fresh air? Apparently, yes. And it happened.

Beijing-based artist Liang Kegang auctioned off a small glass jar filled with fresh air from Province, France. And the going price? $860.

While on a recent trip to the south of France, Liang couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a statement in response to the detrimental state of Beijing’s air quality issue. He photographed himself ‘filling’ the ‘clean south of France air’ into the jar on March 29, 2014. The jar sold at an auction on March 30 to Chengdu-based artist and entrepreneur Li Yongzheng.

Beijing, a city home to twenty-one million people, is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Extremely highs levels of thick smog constantly pose serious health issues to Beijing’s citizens. As the chart below shows, since April 2008, there has only been 184 days total where air quality levels were considered good.

Six years of Beijing air pollution summed up. image: Quartz

“Air should be the most valueless commodity, free to breathe for any vagrant or beggar,” Liang said in an interview. “This is my way to question China’s foul air and express my dissatisfaction.”

featured image: Sunset Noir and Home Naturals

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The post Beijing Air Quality Prompts Artist to Sell ‘Fresh Air’ in a Jar appeared first on EcoSalon.

When entering a concert hall or gallery, we expect to encounter art inside. But why restrict the performance to the stage?

Over the past two years, French firm Herault Arnod Architectes has been busily constructing a multi-functional building on the edge of northeast France’s last remaining coal mine. The building, aptly called The Metaphone, is itself an urban musical instrument, capable of projecting performances outward into the community. According to the designers, the structure’s walls produce and diffuse sounds in harmony with the play of light.

The exterior of the Metaphone sports mosaic tiles that hint at the playfulness within. The entire concert hall, including annexes, technical rooms and audience boxes, are contained within a volume of black concrete. This is then wrapped in a light skin made of scales of different materials: ground glass, steel, and wood. Between the concrete mass and the dappled skin are technical walkways are provided for installing and maintaining the sound and lighting equipment. On the roof, the lattice extends into a sheet of integrated photovoltaic solar cells.

Besides stages and soundboards, the Metaphone concert hall has also grown musical appendages. “The instrumental elements are made up of plates of different materials, whose acoustic properties have been calculated to produce musical sound,” explain the designers. “There are two principles of sound production: mechanical or electroacoustic, with vibrating bowls mounted on the plates to form loudspeaker membranes (this technique is commonly used in the car industry). These systems have been developed and tested by making a prototype of the musical facade, composed of 8 modules measuring 1.2 meters, half fitted with an acoustic instrument, the other half with vibrating plates.”

In addition to amplifying music created on the porch out to an audience seated on the lawn, World Architecture reports that “the panels in the outer shell can be vibrated using a series of cables connected to a control cabin…Plans are to invite musicians from around the world to remotely operate this unusual instrument and display their work through a new medium.”

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Images: Herault-Arnod

The post This Solar-Powered Concert Hall Doubles As A Musical Instrument! appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnWhen a fire hits a local farm, the community rises in support.

Mondays are sacred.

Since I came to Paris in January, they have been reserved as “veggie nights” – the night that we go and pick up our weekly basket of local food: Vegetables grown just outside of the city. It’s part of a system called AMAP, a French consortium of organizations set up to promote independent agriculture and a direct connection between consumers and producers. You buy into the AMAP in your local community or neighborhood and every week your farmer brings the weekly load to the local pick up place and you go to retrieve your goods.

Our farmer’s name is Manu. He is there every Monday, smiling, shaking people’s hands, chatting with every member. He has a welcoming face. Warm, generous–the kind of face that makes you happy to be buying from him.

The vegetables are in abundance, but stick to their season. When the first head of lettuce arrived it was practically cause for celebration. Maybe spring would eventually arrive, too. Rhubarb is just making it’s way into the mix. It’s the little things.

Monday nights are in fact, like Christmas. You know there will be the basics like, carrots and potatoes, but maybe, just maybe, there will be some other surprise vegetable. Something you weren’t waiting for. Something to force you to get creative in the kitchen with.

Two weeks ago on Sunday evening we received an email. There would be no vegetable pick up on Monday night.

Manu had a fire on his property.

As much as not having the prospect of vegetables on Monday night was upsetting, it was nothing compared the feeling we had in the pit of our stomachs imagining a fire on Manu’s farm.

More news followed soon thereafter, a slew of email updates as more information came in. Manu and his family’s house were fine. The building where they stock many of their machines for cleaning and keeping the stock of vegetables wasn’t. Hundreds of kilos of carrots had burned. Damage was in the six figure range.

We were encouraged to trek out to the farm. Lend a hand in any way that we could. So the following Sunday, we hopped on a train north out of Paris. It was grey, rainy and cold. Not idyllic May weather. Depressing in fact.

We walked the country roads from the train station to Manu’s property, making our way to the house that he is in the process of constructing (fortunately, it wasn’t touched by the flames).

It sounded like there was a party going on.

It was a little before two in the afternoon, and in the space that will eventually serve as a main room once the house is finished, 15 or so people were gathered around a long picnic table, boxes of wine at the end, large slabs of Comte and Morbier cheese ready for anyone that wanted, pasta and stew brewing on the stove. It was lunchtime. Everyone was smiling; after a morning of hard work they were finishing off with a hearty meal. Even in the face of destruction, food was bringing people together.

Manu welcomed us with the obligatory French bise. One kiss on each side of the cheek. “Bienvenue ma belle,” he said to me smiling.

Someone quickly cut to the chase.

“How are you doing?”

Manu looked at the table of people eating and us the newly arrived. “I am great!”

“Great” is not the defining word you think of when you imagine someone who has just had part of their property and livelihood burn to the ground.

“You know what? Since the fire last Sunday, we haven’t been alone here one single day. Every day is like this,” he said pointing towards the group around the table. “People just show up to work when they can. It’s like a family. Everything I have gotten out of this experience is worth much more than what I lost,” he paused, “c’est une belle aventure.”

It takes a very strong personality to look at a fire as a beautiful adventure.

As it turned out, much of the main work that needed to be done that week had already been completed. The morning crew had prepped the greenhouses and we were to plant eggplants and peppers. I snagged a piece of cheese on my way out.

The greenhouses stretched like long white caterpillars across the ground. While the rain poured in the cold weather outside, working inside we all broke a sweat within minutes.

Our group work methodically, each of us eventually finding a rhythm. Laying out the black plastic tarp to protect against weeds, popping a hole where each plant should go, aligning the irrigation system and coming back to dig with our hands and carefully put each seedling into place.

Manu is not only a local producer, but also an organic one. I asked if the seedlings were purchased or if he had grown them himself. He looked at me as if I was slightly crazy. “Ah non, tout est d’ici.”

Of course everything is directly from the farm. Hand grown, hand raised. Thanks to that kind of mentality, as a consumer you know exactly what you’re buying.

In the food movement, we talk a lot about where our food comes from. We even talk a lot about growing our own–the power of getting your hands dirty. But what we often forget the talk about, is the community that comes with eating locally. You can be sure that if a farmer who supplied the local grocery store with carrots had a fire at his property, I wouldn’t have known about, I wouldn’t have gotten on a train to go volunteer my time to help, and I wouldn’t have spent an afternoon talking, laughing and learning.

Local independent agriculture works because of people like Manu and the connections that he is so committed to making. It’s not just because his vegetables are good that people drop everything to help, it’s because by creating a local system he has created an extended family. One that goes beyond the food at hand.

Food nourishes us, but not just physically, emotionally too. That’s why we love markets. That’s why we buy from people we know. Because we get more out of it than just the raw product.

“Support your local farmer” may just sound like a cliché bumper sticker, but it’s more than that. Because supporting your local farmer is supporting and taking part in your local community, a community that can be there as a safety net when you need it.

We took the train back to Paris, our shoes caked in mud and our fingernails dirty from digging all afternoon. One measly afternoon is nothing compared to the work of the farmer, but at the very least it’s a small contribution. A contribution to making not only the food system a better place, but the community around us. Just like Manu and other local, independent farmers around the world do every single day.

You can be sure that when peppers show up on Monday nights, we’ll be throwing a big party in celebration.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Anna Brones

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ColumnA bag full of tomatoes, bread, and fresh cheese.

It was Saturday, the sun was shining and the central square of Carcassonne, France was packed with people. It was market day.

When in new places, I am always drawn to markets. In some cities they’re easy to find – the main event of the weekend – and in others they take a little more research. But at a market, you get the sounds, smells and sights of a place. You step into an everyday routine of wherever you are.

At a market, you wander. This is not expedient grocery list shopping; this is living in the moment. Taking up a bunch of tomatoes to see what they feel like. Smelling a container of strawberries. Holding a basket of chard. Asking the cheese monger what he recommends today. This is simple enjoyment. It’s no surprise that in our modern lives – most often defined by stress and deadlines – that we appreciate a moment to slow down.

I made my first round of the market. Because you always make a first round. Rule number one of market shopping: get a feel for the market and know what’s available.

Tightly packed into the main square, it was hard to determine where outdoor terraces ended and food stands started. The line to the organic baker wove around a few tables with coffee drinkers. The baker was doling out samples. “Un brownie sans gluten!” he exclaimed, cutting off a bit of the gluten free baked good. In bake-centric France gluten-free is rare to find, but sometimes you stumble across a nice surprise. We grabbed one for the following day’s river picnic. His fingers did a kind of dance routine, flitting back and forth between stuffing dense loaves in paper bags and doling out change. The kind of man that loves his job.

Next to him an old man sat behind a sea of wooden crates filled with salad. That’s another reason that we love markets: the personalities. These are not robotic cashiers, these are characters. These are farmers whose hands are cracked from working in the soil. These are bakers that have mastered a loaf of seed bread. Craving interaction, at a market we get just that. At a grocery store, you may just hand over money and leave with a “good bye” but at a market, there’s always something extra. Maybe it’s a discussion about the weather. Maybe it’s a joke about the food. Maybe it’s simply a comment that this is the best thing you have ever tasted. Whatever it is, it’s a human to human exchange, something for which we desperately yearn.

I made the rounds again. Handmade olive salami. From a local and organic producer. Only 4€.

It’s silly to even think about what you pay when you’re at the market; ultimately the market isn’t necessarily about the food, it’s about the experience.

Basil and tomatoes at the next stall. The cloth bag I was carrying was now full of picnic goods. Nothing processed, nothing imported, just good ingredients that would go well together.

Why do we love markets? Because they’re simple. Because they remind us of our relationship with food; that from what we eat, we draw happiness. And if we don’t take time to celebrate that happiness – that simple moment of picking up an apple to see how it feels and smells – then we are lacking something primal. We love markets because they bring us back to that connection, the connection that sustains us, physically and emotionally.

Food is joy, and a market is simply a wonderful manifestation of that.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Images: Anna Brones

The post Foodie Underground: Why do We Love Markets? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Basic dishes you might consider getting on a plane for. 

Travel isn’t travel without eating. You can’t get to know a place without tasting the local specialties, and food is often one of the best mediums to explore a culture. Be it in a market, on the street, at a restaurant, or in someone’s home, food gives us a very personal look into another culture. Sure, not all your travel culinary experiences are always good ones, but even when you try a local food that doesn’t suite your palate (pickled herring isn’t for everyone) at the very least, it makes for a good story.

When you travel, it can be fun to choose one local food to always go after. In my experience, being on the hunt for something in particular often leads to interesting adventures. Whether you like to travel to eat, or are just looking for an excuse to plan a summer trip, here are eight local meals worth traveling for.

1. Socca: Nice, France

The local street food of Nice, socca is a crepe made from garbanzo bean flour. While street food often makes its way around the world – you can get a döner kebab in just about any city –  socca is a little harder to track down. Even in Paris, there’s only one guy making it. Here are a few recommendations on some of the best ones you can find in Nice. Just make sure to get a chilled glass of rose while you’re at it.

2. Pho: Hanoi, Vietnam

Pho is one of those dishes that has made a name for itself outside of its homeland. In most food metropolises it’s easy to track down a few Vietnamese restaurants that top local foodies’ list of recommended places. But pho is best consumed on a hot street corner in Hanoi, sitting on a small plastic chair and drinking a cold beer. Go all out on the dish of garnishes that is served with it: a bowl full of broth, cilantro and lime is a good thing.

3. Stroopwaffel: Netherlands

A bike ride in Amsterdam followed by a stroopwaffel: is there any better way to spend a trip? Stroopwaffels are cookies made from two layers of thin waffles and held together by a sweet caramel. They’re all over Amsterdam, both sold in bags and packages at stores and markets as well as larger versions as street food. Hint: the day before you head home, go to the local grocery store and buy a few packages to take home with you. They’re that addictive.

4. Asado: Argentina

They’re not for the vegetarian, but asados are acclaimed events, barbecuing many kinds of meats at one time. Argentina is known for its steak, and raised on wild grasslands, you’re assured a leaner meat than standard feedlot-fed US cattle. Try a traditional asado in Patagonia, grilled by local gauchos.

5. Smørrebrød: Denmark

The Danish open-faced sandwich is one you’ll find on almost any traditional Danish menu. It’s a buttered piece of rye bread topped with an assortment of options, from cured meats to cheese. For a truly Scandinavian meal, get one with shrimp and pair it with a local light beer.

6. Accras: French Caribbean

Most Caribbean countries have some form of the accras, a fritter made from fish or shrimp. Accras de morue are popular appetizers in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The word “accra” is most commonly used in the French-speaking part of the Caribbean, but you will also see them listed as fritters in the English-speaking parts. You’ll often find them served as street food and they make for a great snack.

7. Pa amb tomaquet: Barcelona, Spain

Bread rubbed with olive oil and tomato might sound basic, but sometimes, it’s the simplest foods that are the best. Such is the case with Pa amb tomaquet, the classic Catalan dish (pan con tomate in Spanish) that you’ll find in almost any tapas bar. The oilier and juicer the better. If a place does it well, you can be sure that the rest of their menu will be up to par.

8. Amok Trey: Cambodia

This popular Khmer dish is made of steamed fish and coconut milk. With an emphasis on zesty flavors, it has a softer and less spicy taste than most curries. The fish is wrapped with other ingredients in a banana leaf and steamed in the coconut milk.

Images: katinalynn, Tran’s World Productions, sindy, dr_pablogonzalez, fredrikrynde, SnippyHolloW, Jen SFO-BCN, Ben Yapp

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